Wondering on Wednesday (v69)

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As are most people, even the ones who supported now President-elect Donald Trump, I'm bigly wondering on this Wednesday, what the heck just happened here and what the heck is going to happen next.

On the former, for the first time ever, they say, we have elected a person who has both no political experience and no military experience to be President and Commander-in-Chief of the United States.

Not only that, but we've elected a person who does not support perhaps a majority of the positions held o happen next" part all that much more intriguing and fun to watch, if that's the right term?

There's a whole lot of other wondering going on, too.

It's fascinating to see how so many people who declared themselves "voters without a candidate" seem to be so happy about Donald Trump being elected. I wonder whether that's because they were afraid to admit they were Trump supporters, or if they were having more fun pretending they were not?

And speaking of Trump supporters, what will they do if he's unable to do the things he promised he do just in the first 100 days? There's a lot in there - ISIS, Syria, NAFTA and the TPP, the Iran nuclear deal, Obamacare, abortion, China, veterans, guns, and some of that was before the Contract with the American Voter (not, mind you, a contract with all Americans) which came out at his Gettysburg address: immigration, cancelling executive orders, $50 trillion in energy development -  my head spins.

In all seriousness, though, I think this is a legitimate question. He was nothing if not over promising, almost daily, in almost Seussian fashion (emphasis on 'almost').

I have brains in my head

and feet in my shoes

I can steer myself 

any direction I choose

I'm on my own, and I know what I know

and I am the guy who'll decide where to go. 

If he fails to live up to those promises, does he lose his support?

And then there's the special prosecutor to investigate the Clinton Foundation, Now that he has vanquished Clinton, will there still be calls for her head, I wonder? If, as a conciliatory measure he decides to let this one slide, what will happen?

Another thing I'm wondering is how we are supposed to unite to move the country forward?  Is there some picture of an olive tree somewhere in Trump Tower? You know, something along the lines of "we really don't mean those things we said throughout the campaign, and you have to trust us on that?"

Or, even better, an actual olive branch, something specific his camp could offer as a way to actually try and bring those who equally love America but didn't vote for him towards some kind of reconciliation? I wonder what he might put on the table; I could suggest a couple of things, but since I had two feet very publicly planted in the #NeverTrump camp, I don't really think it's up to me to make the conciliatory gesture, do you?

Frankly, I'd love to hear, from a single Trump voter, some offer of reconciliation. Getting a lot of "we need to unite" as if it's on us to capitulate, set aside our ideals and thoughts on government, and just chug some orange Kool Aid or something. Is that how this is supposed to go, especially with Trump actually losing the popular vote?

I wonder if the 18-24 month vetting process we currently have for some folks wanting to come to America, the most stringent process in the world already, will become a 48-month process once Trump is inaugurated?

And then there's the whole "how did we miss this/refuse to acknowledge this" hand-wringing going on in the media. It's hard not to wonder what their post-mortem will look like:

• Can we trust exit polls? Would someone actually lie on a poll? Did they tell the truth and we chose to ignore them? 
• Could we have done more to talk about the issues during this race instead of focusing on the personalities? 
• Could we have spent less time fawning over the candidates and their surrogates,less time making sure we looked good asking our questions, and more time talking to actual people?
• Should we have given done more to investigate whether the vitriol and hatred in the campaign was more than skin deep?
• Should we have placed so much
• Are we willing to admit that we didn't do our best work here, and vow to do better throughout the Trump administration, to hold everyone accountable to the people even though Trump has threatened us almost from the beginning of his campaign?
• When should any projections be made before the polls are closed in all states? Does reporting what;s happening on the East Coast impact what happens across the time zones?

Will Fox News finally be considered to be part of the mainstream media? Fox was Trump's personal microphone, throughout the campaign. There was little to no critical coverage of him by that network, anymore than there was from any of the other networks. Can't we just come clean on that?What the heck are we waiting for, I wonder?

What will happen with Trump's business empire? There has been little to no discussion about how we make sure his focus is our focus not his focus if you follow my drift. I'm surprised how little discussion there has been, given the amount of attention given plans for the Clintons to divest themselves from their Foundation. Trump, the nationalist candidate, is a global business magnate. We can't afford to let that get lost in the shuffle.

What are our allies wondering, this Wednesday? People think it's hard to be people who voted against Trump, imagine how hard it is for our allies?

There's more, so much more wondering up there in my head.  I'll end, as I have throughout this entire fascinating, aggravating, confounding campaign, whether it was Wednesday or Sunday or Tuesday or Friday or some other day.

I wonder what my Dad would say.